Labor market resilience was underscored by other data on Thursday showing private employers hired far more workers than expected last month. The reports suggested the economy ended 2022 on solid footing, despite a raft of layoffs in the technology industry as well as in interest rate-sensitive sectors like finance and housing.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 204,000 for the week ended Dec. 31, the lowest level since the end of September, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest week. Through the volatility of the year-end holidays, claims have remained at very low levels.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, dropped 24,000 to 1.694 million in the week ending Dec. 24. The so-called continuing claims had jumped to an 11-month high of 1.718 million in the prior week. A separate report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed U.S.-based employers announced 43,651 job cuts in December, down 43% from November. The total was, however, 129% higher compared to December 2021 and was the second-largest monthly number announced in 2022.
Major businesses are all laying off employees in record numbers. Something doesn’t add up
🙏🙏🙏🙏🥰🥰🥰🥰 thank you dear lord🙏🙏🙏💕💕💕💕🙏🙏🙏💕 Damar asked did we win doc sez you won the game of life😆😆😆🙏🙏💕💕💕🙏